[Dixielandjazz] Strathclyde Stompers

[Ken Mathieson]

Hi Folks,

Sorry about my lurking of late, but I'm chained to my piano writing big band arrangements of some Jelly Roll Morton rarities for a concert in the Edinburgh Jazz Festival in July. I'll post info on it once I've finished the writing and know the exact contents of the programme.

Anyway, to business: There was no band called the Strathclyde Stompers to my knowledge, although it is conceivable that someone put together a one-off scratch band for a gig and called it that. The Clyde Valley Stompers were working locally in the Glasgow area as a semi-pro band in the early 1950s, but went pro later in the decade and transfered their base to London, although they seemed to be endlessly on the road on crazy schedules handed out by the agents, very possibly because they were gigs the big name trad bands couldn't or wouldn't do. A lot of great musicians passed through the band, but it succumbed to the collapse of the market for trad in the mid-60s. 

>From time to time, former members and a few draftees were re-assembled for short tours, usually around Scotland, where they were still remembered. A few of them are still around: Forrie Cairns is still playing wonderfully well and I believe Pete Kerr is still to the fore outside of Scotland, while Jim Douglas, Ron Mathewson and Tucker Finlayson live in England. Lake Records have produced a couple of CDs by various Stompers incarnations (LACD 303 and 329) and, if you have them, their liner notes give a more detailed history. Their commercial recordings were very commercial indeed, but their live recordings (LACD 329 has a gig at Nottingham's Dancing Slipper) show them at their best playing for dancers and concert audiences.

I knew most of the musicians who played with the Stompers at different times, so what's your friend's name, Marek? I never played with them myself, but I wish I had a pound for every time a punter at a gig I'm playing has told me he used to play with the CVS (usually on drums, although strangely they always turn down the offer of a sit-in). It must have been one of the biggest big bands of all time!

Cheers,

Ken Mathieson (currently transcribing Gil Evans's amazing arrangement of King Porter Stomp - very slowly!)